Being on the road, you may not have heard . . .
Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri asked Carmelo Anthony during the preseason whether free agent UMass rookie Gary Forbes (15 points and six rebounds in Friday’s win in Toronto) deserved to make the team, and obviously he gave a strong endorsement. That’s what ‘Melo means when he says, “We’re learning to trust each other,” and that he and management (president Josh Kroenke, too) communicate regularly regarding the team and his rising free agent situation.
Those previously in charge “told me they’d seek my advice about roster moves they were thinking about doing, but never did,” ‘Melo told me a couple weeks ago.
“I don’t want to be the GM. But you’d think I’d be consulted on possible trades or signings, because nobody knows players better than other players. I’m not saying they got to do what I say, but at least ask my opinion.”
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UNC’s Roy Williams identifies Ty Lawson as the “best point guard I ever coached.”
Last season, I could have wondered interminably why Carolina alumnus Donnie Walsh wasn’t wired to that judgment, failed on his own to detect the kind of NCAA championship faculty he brought with him to the Nuggets and declined to draft Lawson, Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison or Eric Maynor at No. 8, preferring Jordan Hill‘s length instead.
The summer signing of Raymond Felton, another titled Tar Heel who received his playmaking doctorate in two seasons under Larry Brown — Walsh’s college backcourt partner for Frank McGuire and Dean Smith — and is out-conducting the majority of NBA maestros, makes the above-mentioned rumination beside the point, if you will.
That and the 15-9 Knicks’ seven consecutive conquests (eight straight road kills) and 12-of-13 overall, going into today’s play date with the 8-of-10 Nuggets, whose matinee idle (the last two games) won’t dare miss the opportunity to strut and flex at the Garden.
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Aaron Afflalo not only is first in the 2010-11 NBA Register but foremost on George Karl‘s all-time list of players he has coached, replacing — for Steve Kerr‘s information — former favorite Nate McMillan, followed by Detlef Schrempf and Sam Cassell.
“I’ve never had a player who comes to the gym every day and gets better in one facet or another,” remarked Karl, fresh from good news on a PET scan and his 1,000th NBA victory, the seventh coach to reach that rarified plateau.
As you can see, I’m doing my best to keep today’s space UNC-slanted for as long as possible.
All Afflalo’s constructive gauges are up. In 35.2 minutes per night (15 above his career mark), his scoring (12.5) is nearly doubled (6.5 career), his overall shooting (.551 vs. .456), 3-point accuracy (.432 vs. .404) and free-throw marksmanship (.830 vs. .783) have improved, as well as rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.
Not too shabby from someone perceived as a part-time defensive detachment during his two seasons with the Pistons (No. 27 pick in ’07) and dispatched to Denver for a second-round choice.
“Too bad Aaron went to UCLA, he would’ve made a perfect Tar Heel,” I kidded Karl, who gave me a curled lip, eyebrows up and a sly grin.
“I like him so much I might still allow him into our fraternity.”
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Two nights before Karl reached four figures, Kevin Garnett put on a hazmat suit and shook his hand.
Mighty ground-breaking of the Celtics forward, if you ask me. As I’m sure you recall, Charlie Villanueva accused Garnett last month of mocking cancer patients, so the Big Thicket, whose obscenities-to-dictionary words-ratio leads the league, wanted Karl to understand his position.
“I went up to him as a man, and what I said is that I had nothing personal toward him nor any other cancer patient that was out there struggling, dealing with life situations,” recounted Garnett. “I wanted to say that to him, man-to-man.”
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“Everyone is going to have their judgments about everything,” Gilbert Arenas confided to Yahoo! Sports. “I never told the real story (re: bringing four guns into the Wizards locker room and provoking a confrontation with Javaris Crittenton). But everybody had a story out there, and that’s the problem. You’re judging me off a story that somebody else made up. And that was the part that hurt. That’s not fair. If people heard the real story . . .”
Does Arenas really want us to believe the prosecution and judge never heard the real story? Is he trying to say he didn’t deserve to be suspended indefinitely without pay or shouldn’t have done time in a halfway house?
Little late to assume that position and cop such a lame plea, isn’t it?
Whoops, maybe not. Yahoo! now reports Arenas is blaming the Bossa Nova.
As part of Arenas’ court-ordered service, he’s starting “Bring Your Delusions to Work Day.”
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Octomom agreed with David Stern‘s assessment that the NBA is in need of contraction.
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Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert somewhat lowered his expectations. He now guarantees Cleveland will host an All-Star weekend before Miami.
Byron Scott fined half his team for showing up late to the “Q” during a snowstorm Wednesday, and later fined the rest for showing up at all.
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Charles Rangel claimed he paid his taxes . . . to Cam Newton.
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It’s official, reports column contributor Phillip Marmanillo. “Newton already made so much money he has qualified for a date with Kim Kardashian.”